Why it works: Sage and apple work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 755 recipes. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Roast Goose
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Pluck, singe, and draw the goose.
Prepare ½ lb. of sage and onion stuffing and place it inside the bird through the opening at the tail end.
Truss the bird.
Sprinkle the breast with coarse sea salt and lay the fat from inside the bird on top.
Cover the fat with well-buttered paper and place the goose in a roasting pan.
Roast
Roast in a moderate oven (350°F/175°C), basting frequently and turning several times.
About 30 minutes before it's done, remove the paper to brown the skin.
Make the gravy
Make gravy from the giblets with onion, herbs, and seasoning.
Serve
Serve the goose on a hot dish, garnished with boiled Brussels sprouts and a little gravy around it.
Serve additional gravy and apple or gooseberry sauce in separate sauce boats.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sage + appletop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together755 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Sage + oniontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + appletop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,206 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + brussels sproutstop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Brussels sprouts + appletop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Goose
- Provides the rich meat and fat that render and baste the bird as it roasts.
- Sage and onion stuffing
- Adds moisture and aromatic flavour to the cavity while the bird cooks.
- Brussels sprouts
- Serve as a boiled vegetable garnish that adds freshness against the rich meat.
- Apple or gooseberry sauce
- Adds acidity and tartness that cut through the richness of the goose fat.
The step that matters
Removing the paper to brown the skin. The paper protects the fat from scorching early. Removing it about 30 minutes before the end lets the skin dry and brown, since browning depends on surface dryness and direct heat.
Swap the brussels sprouts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sage, onion, apple):
- Parsnipfits better
- Turnipfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Brussels sproutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sage, onion, apple. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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